Russia's Gazprom Reportedly Shuts Off Gas Delivery To Ukraine

Sputnik News, a Russian based international multimedia news service that is wholly owned and operated by the Russian government stated in a

on Wednesday that the energy giant

has "shut the valves for gas delivers to Ukraine." According to the report, Gazprom will halt deliveries to Ukraine until Kiev makes a prepayment. The stock, which trades on the OTC market in the U.S., is down more than 1 percent on Wednesday morning. Shares closed down about half that on the MCX exchange earlier. Gazprom's CEO Alexi Miller was quoted as saying, "Ukraine has not made a prepayment for gas deliveries for July. As of 10:00 this morning, July 1, Gazprom has halted gas deliveries. Gazprom will not deliver any gas to Ukraine at any price until there is a prepayment." Ukraine's Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn's rejected Gazprom's gas price offer of $247 per 1,000 cubic meters. The government offered Gazprom $100 per 1,000 cubic meters as part of a package deal that was initially devised to last Ukraine through the winter season and was prolonged in April for three months. The European Union acts as a mediator in Vienna and has forged a series of temporary agreements to be renewed every three months. The Russian government maintains a position that its offer $247 per 1,000 cubic meters already represents a discount compared to the global market price. The announcement also comes a day after Ukraine's state energy firm Naftogaz said it was suspending gas purchases from Russia, According to a

Naftogaz said on Tuesday: "Since the additional agreement between Naftogaz and Gazprom is expiring on 30 June, and the terms of further Russian gas deliveries to Ukraine were not agreed at today's trilateral talks in Vienna, Naftogaz is suspending purchases from the Russian company." Russia previously cut off gas supplies to Ukraine in June 2014 as the conflict between Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels in Eastern Ukraine escalated. Shares of

were trading higher by 0.35 percent on the Moscow Exchange. At the same time, shares of

were lower by 0.76 percent on the OTC Market. The

(an exchange traded fund that replicates the price and yield performance of the DAXglobal Russia+ Index) were trading lower by 1.09 percent at $18.08 shortly after the opening of trading in New York.